Kathmandu, March 7

The recent quality test report of China-government granted edible oil has shattered the plans of Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) to sell the product in the market at fair price.

The NFC has submitted a proposal to its parent ministry — the Ministry of Supplies — to sell the product, received as relief material from the China government and stocked in its warehouse, through its depots at fair price. NFC has sought permission from the ministry to sell 8,000 tonnes of rice, 10 tonnes of edible oil and 10 tonnes of salt.

However, the recent lab test conducted by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) has revealed that the edible oil granted by the government of China is of sub-standard quality.

“It does not meet our quality standards,” said Sanjeev Karna, director general of the DFTQC. “The level of acidity in the oil from China is quite high, so it doesn’t meet standard set for processed oil.”

The NFC had received the relief materials from Kyirong of China around one-and-a-half months back. The government of China had granted 10 tonnes of edible oil, 30 tonnes of rice and 10 tonnes of salt as relief materials to

be distributed to earthquake victims.

However, instead of distributing the relief materials to the quake victims, NFC plans to sell the relief materials to improve its balance sheet.

Apart from 30 tonnes of rice granted by the Chinese government, NFC also has 7,970 tonnes of rice in its warehouse received as relief material from various helping hands, including Bangladesh, in the aftermath of earthquakes of April and May.

According to Shrimani Raj Khanal, sales and distribution chief of the NFC, the corporation has proposed selling the stock to clear out its storage.

“We have proposed our parent ministry to allow us to sell the commodities, which have been stocked in our godowns, at fair price since the government does not have any plans to distribute it as relief in the near future,” he said, adding, “Since these commodities have certain lifespan, we would have no other option than to dispose of them after that and it would be a shame to let all those commodities go to waste.”

NFC has proposed setting the price for the commodities relatively lower than the market price and proposed to distribute the items through its depots across the country.

Khanal also refuted the claim of DFTQC and said the department has not sent any formal information to the NFC about the quality test report of edible oil. There are two standards prevailing in case of edible oil — for domestic and imported. DFTQC allows up to 1.5 per cent acidity level in processed oil produced in the country, while only 0.5 per cent acidity level is permissible in imported oil, said Khanal.

The Ministry of Supplies, however, needs to receive consent from the Ministry of Home Affairs before it can grant permission to NFC to sell the relief materials, as proposed by NFC. Khanal is optimistic that the Ministry of Home Affairs — through which various helping hands had sent the relief materials — will permit NFC to sell the commodities.